FACT SHEET: Protecting the “Men in Blue”

Get the facts on The Doe Fund’s fight to preserve the jobs and safety of the “men in blue” of Ready, Willing & Able. For more information on the events leading up to The Doe Fund’s suit against the Department of Homeless Services to stop the transfer of sex offenders into its facilities, see the detailed timeline here.

The Doe Fund has filed suit against the Department of Homeless Services to stop them from transferring 50 dangerous sex offenders to the Peter Jay Sharp Center for Opportunity in Brooklyn.

DHS demands that we remove 50 hardworking “men in blue” from the program to make room for sex offenders who cannot work and cannot participate in Ready, Willing & Able.

Sex Offenders would occupy critical bed space we need to serve men who are able to go to work and ready to rebuild their lives, stealing their opportunity for self-sufficiency and destroying a culture of recovery.

The Peter Jay Sharp Center for Opportunity at 89 Porter Avenue is 1700 feet from a Charter School (700 feet farther than the “1000-foot rule” for sex offender housing). Children from the school use the Morgan Ave. L Train stop— just a few blocks from the facility.

DHS has willfully ignored the fact that the facility in question is home to our youth program, with 60 young men ages 18-26 who spend each day working and studying to improve their lives.

DHS’s reckless demands would make working in our communities impossible, threatening the safety and quality of life of millions of New Yorkers by dismantling a program that cleans over 170 miles of city streets and sidewalks, each day.

Sex Offenders present a danger to our trainees, staff, and community.

The Doe Fund refuses to accept DHS transfers of sex offenders. DHS has attempted several; The Doe Fund has transported the transfers back to DHS.

DHS is threatening the only program in New York City which offers paid work, vocational training, and social services to men recovering from homelessness and incarceration.

DHS has failed to invest in solutions for sex offenders and is now attempting to quietly disperse them into the community. We will not allow that to happen.

Founded in 1985, The Doe Fund provides life-transforming services for the homeless, the formerly incarcerated, disenfranchised youth, and people living with AIDS.
The organization's flagship Ready, Willing & Able program has helped tens of thousands of individuals achieve permanent self sufficiency through paid work, transitional housing, and employment training.